Automatic stove dampers or draft inlets are used to control the heat loss and heat output of a stove by regulating the flow of flue gases from the combustion chamber. In some prior art automatic dampers a bimetallic element has been placed either within the furnace flue exhaust or in close enough proximity thereto so that increases in the temperature of the flue gases cause the bimetallic element to deform and regulate the position of the damper.
Although some automatic damper controls allow for the adjustment of the bimetallic element in order to compensate for the relative temperature of the surrounding area, these temperature controls do not allow for the quick and easy release of the adjustment system so that the stove can be fully damped at will, such as is desired when the stove is not in use or very little heat is called for. Additionally, previous stove damper controls making use of a bimetallic strip confine one end of the strip. If the damper is restrained from moving, such as might occur when the damper is fully open or fully closed, further temperature changes will continue to cause the bimetallic element to deform. As the one end of the bimetallic strip is confined and the other end is interconnected with the damper plate which cannot move further, this continued bending of the bimetallic element will permanently deform the strip. As a result, after the temperature variance is reduced the bimetallic element will not return to its original configuration and therefore the character and adjustment of the damper control device is changed.